This movie was way more intense that I expected. Very post apocalyptic, dreary, depressing, and great! I don't know, but for some reason the title takes you to "Zombieland" and the lighthearted annals of the horror comedy. That's my own fault for not doing my research prior to watching it. Maybe it was a good thing that I wasn't expecting what I got. I haven't been that suprised in a while. Nick Damici is brilliant as "Mister", a hardened vampire killer that befriends "Martin", a young boy whose family was murdered by vampires. A reluctant stoic hero and his young protege' is nothing new, and certainly plaugue films, even with vampires aren't new. So I'm not saying this film is an original. What I am saying is this film does what's been done before better.
The villian Jebediah Loven is the leader of a cult known as "The Brotherhood". What's even more frightnening than the end of the world and vampires is something we should trust, whether it be religion or society, ending up enslaving us or even worse trying to kill us. The Brotherhood believes the vampires are part of God's judgement, and feed people to them or drop them in the middle of settlements in terrorist style fashion. Another interesting facet of "Stakeland" are two very familiar faces that for some reason are not readily identifiable. The lovely Danielle Harris is Belle, a pregnant girl that hitches a ride with Martin and Mister. I thought for a little while that we were going to get the urgency of what to do when the baby comes amidst all the carnage like we did with the original "Dawn of the Dead, but Belle didn't make it that far. Also we have Kelly McGillis as Sister, a nun who is rescued by Mister after an attempted rape by members of The Brotherhood. Anybody alive in the 1980's will suddenly come to the realization that adults in the movies we watched as children are now senior citizens. Oh well, Kelly McGillis wasn't all that hot in '86.
One of my fellow horror movie fans said he loved the movie, but hated the ending. I can see that. Then again, the ending is appropriate for the feel of the film. Anything else would betray the spirit of the atmosphere that the filmakers worked so hard on. The afore mentioned fellow fan loaned me this dvd. I probably wouldn't have watched it as soon as I did if he hadn't. Thank goodness for fellow fans who recommend good films and would know how to properly use a stake if things go bad.
